Parkland, Florida: 17 Dead
Yet one more mass killing.
I understand what gunfire and injuries caused by weapons mean. In 2012, when twenty children -- 20 children -- were murdered at Sandy Hook, projecting my own experience into a situation involving the deaths of five-year-old children -- five-year-old children -- I thought this, finally, would be the event, the tipping point which would cause us to turn in collective revulsion, and something would be done about gun violence in America.
But it wasn't. And in the six years since, we've had Virginia, and Denver, and Florida (No. 1), and Washington D.C. And San Bernardo. And Texas. And South Carolina. And.
Every time this happens, it becomes Just One More Of Those Things That Happens. And, I've said it before: these incidents always happen Somewhere Else in this big Nation of ours -- until they don't. And OurCorrupt Whores Complicit In Homicides Sainted Politicians do nothing.
OurBloated, Raving Skunk Sainted Leader says it's about mental illness -- guns don't kill people; it's the crazy nutjobs who do that. But Our Sainted Leader can shut the fuck up and be damned: as I've said and unfortunately will go on saying, none of these incidents are about Operator Error.
And because I've said it before, here are reprints from 2015, and 2014, and 2012, after (then) yet another mass killing. And another.
And while the massacre in Norway in 2011 didn't occur in the United States, the connection between gun violence and right-wing consciousness is clear -- more of a threat in America than the rest of the 'developed' world.
Virginia
I've already had to repost my thoughts about Sandy Hook after yet another rampage by some angry nutjob. I'm not going to do it every time we see the effects of combining Angry Nutjob with Firearms, or I'd be reposting it every week. But I will quote myself:
Yet one more mass killing.
I understand what gunfire and injuries caused by weapons mean. In 2012, when twenty children -- 20 children -- were murdered at Sandy Hook, projecting my own experience into a situation involving the deaths of five-year-old children -- five-year-old children -- I thought this, finally, would be the event, the tipping point which would cause us to turn in collective revulsion, and something would be done about gun violence in America.
But it wasn't. And in the six years since, we've had Virginia, and Denver, and Florida (No. 1), and Washington D.C. And San Bernardo. And Texas. And South Carolina. And.
Every time this happens, it becomes Just One More Of Those Things That Happens. And, I've said it before: these incidents always happen Somewhere Else in this big Nation of ours -- until they don't. And Our
Our
And because I've said it before, here are reprints from 2015, and 2014, and 2012, after (then) yet another mass killing. And another.
And while the massacre in Norway in 2011 didn't occur in the United States, the connection between gun violence and right-wing consciousness is clear -- more of a threat in America than the rest of the 'developed' world.
_________________________
I've already had to repost my thoughts about Sandy Hook after yet another rampage by some angry nutjob. I'm not going to do it every time we see the effects of combining Angry Nutjob with Firearms, or I'd be reposting it every week. But I will quote myself:
Per Reuters:Only in cases like Sandy Hook does our national debate begin and end with, "Guns don't kill people; the people using them do". And that's it -- Pilot Error, essentially, is the public finding; and any other meme is just filler in the media. That, and people repeating, "It doesn't happen every day."I'm sure that fact is a comfort to the extended families of twenty children, who died because they were shot with high-powered handguns. Twenty children...What happened in Sandy Hook yesterday has happened before -- in Columbine; in Denver; In Virginia; in a mall in Seattle last week; at a Dairy Queen in the Northwest. There may not be massacres, but annually there are many multiple-victim, firearm homicides in America.And they will keep happening, until something changes about how firearm ownership and possession is discussed, and regulated, in this country.The debate is not about Operator Error. It's not about something that happened "over there" in another city or state. It's about twenty dead children.
Two journalists, reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward of Roanoke CBS affiliate WDBJ7, were shot during a live interview on Wednesday by a disgruntled former station employee who later killed himself. The woman who was being interviewed was wounded and hospitalized.
Parker's father, Andy Parker, urged state and federal lawmakers to take action on gun control, especially to keep firearms out of the hands of people who were mentally unstable... "How many Alisons is this going to happen to before we stop it?"
The United States had about 34,000 firearms deaths in 2013... with almost two-thirds of them suicides, according to the [CDC]...
The last time there was a push at the federal level for tighter gun control was following the massacre of 26 people, mostly children, at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012... [the legislation] was rejected in April 2013 by the U.S. Senate, including by some lawmakers in [the] Democratic Party.
________________________________
Norway
I want to say this, right up front: In the United States, domestic terrorism is in fact committed by those on the Right. Period.
Don't agree? How many dirty hippie leftists plotted to destroy the Federal Building in Oklahoma City? How many bombs have been set off by "left-wing extremists"? How many family planning clinic doctors and nurses have been stalked and murdered by Buddhists? Or Progressives? Come on; how many?
How many organized groups of dirty hippies (some with illegal heavy weapons) publicly hail Marx and Lenin and claim they are "at war" with an illegal, 'occupation' government? How many churches, and alleged 'pastors', preach messages of exclusion, intolerance and hate towards Evangelicals? How many radio stations in America spew out a never-ending stream of hatred and bile towards conservatives, caucasians, and christians?
How many? How many?
_______________________________
Sandy Hook
There are no real words for what happened in Connecticut, yesterday. There is plenty to say about how it happened.
I overheard someone at work (a classic gunnut owner who believes Negros persons of color will overrun his part of the planet) observing that "this [presumably, massacres committed by unstable individuals with firearms] is the new normal".
On PBS' The News Hour, a professional psychologist asked to comment said (and I'm paraphrasing) that "It's important to say... this kind of tragedy doesn't happen every day... that schools really are safe places."
I reject the first comment. The second remark made me think: This fellow doesn't go to many Inner City schools, then -- massacres with 27 dead don't happen every day, that's true; but there are shooting incidents, and kids packing, and metal detectors, and education occurring against a solid backdrop of poverty and violence, every day.
The psychologist on News Hour was, I thought, trying to suggest themes parents might pass on to reassure their children (Don't worry, Timmy; It Can't Happen Here) -- that planes can crash, but the odds of going down in one, or having one crash on top of you, are hugely in your favor. And largely, that is true.
But planes do crash. Ships sink. Trains collide and buses plunge. Whenever that does happen, there are NTSB investigations, reconstructions and root-cause analyses. There are discussions with engineers and manufacturers about what to do to lessen the chances such a tragedy doesn't happen again.
Only in cases like Sandy Hook does our national debate begin and end with, "Guns don't kill people; the people using them do". And that's it -- Pilot Error, essentially, is the public finding; and any other meme is just filler in the media. That, and people repeating, "It doesn't happen every day."
I'm sure that fact is a comfort to the extended families of twenty children, who died because they were shot with high-powered handguns. Twenty children.
I've owned firearms; at various times because I was required to carry them, but afterwards had no sane reason to keep them. I don't want them in my home.
We live in a world of high anxiety, and there are persons who want to exploit those feelings of danger, threat, and imminent disaster: Gun manufacturers, and their lobby, the NRA, are at the top of the list. Mike Huckabee and the rest of his fellow Xtian evangelical ilk; there are 2012 World-Enders, predicting massive earthquakes and crustal displacement and 'coastal events', and ultimately few survivors.
There are White Power fascists, and Survivalists, and the people who manufacture and sell them freeze-dried food and plans for bunkers to shield against the EMP bursts from North Korean-launched warheads, detonating high above the USA.
What happened in Sandy Hook yesterday has happened before -- in Columbine, in Denver; In Virginia; in a mall in Seattle last week; at a Dairy Queen in the Northwest. There may not be massacres, but annually there are many multiple-victim, firearm homicides in America.
And they will keep happening, until something changes about how firearm ownership and possession is discussed, and regulated, in this country.
The debate is not about Operator Error. It's not about something that happened "over there" in another city or state. It's about twenty dead children.
Along those lines are two, other very pertinent observations -- one, a part of the discussion at TPM Prime:
(Photo: AP, via The New York Times)
There are no real words for what happened in Connecticut, yesterday. There is plenty to say about how it happened.
I overheard someone at work (a classic gun
On PBS' The News Hour, a professional psychologist asked to comment said (and I'm paraphrasing) that "It's important to say... this kind of tragedy doesn't happen every day... that schools really are safe places."
I reject the first comment. The second remark made me think: This fellow doesn't go to many Inner City schools, then -- massacres with 27 dead don't happen every day, that's true; but there are shooting incidents, and kids packing, and metal detectors, and education occurring against a solid backdrop of poverty and violence, every day.
The psychologist on News Hour was, I thought, trying to suggest themes parents might pass on to reassure their children (Don't worry, Timmy; It Can't Happen Here) -- that planes can crash, but the odds of going down in one, or having one crash on top of you, are hugely in your favor. And largely, that is true.
But planes do crash. Ships sink. Trains collide and buses plunge. Whenever that does happen, there are NTSB investigations, reconstructions and root-cause analyses. There are discussions with engineers and manufacturers about what to do to lessen the chances such a tragedy doesn't happen again.
Only in cases like Sandy Hook does our national debate begin and end with, "Guns don't kill people; the people using them do". And that's it -- Pilot Error, essentially, is the public finding; and any other meme is just filler in the media. That, and people repeating, "It doesn't happen every day."
I'm sure that fact is a comfort to the extended families of twenty children, who died because they were shot with high-powered handguns. Twenty children.
I've owned firearms; at various times because I was required to carry them, but afterwards had no sane reason to keep them. I don't want them in my home.
We live in a world of high anxiety, and there are persons who want to exploit those feelings of danger, threat, and imminent disaster: Gun manufacturers, and their lobby, the NRA, are at the top of the list. Mike Huckabee and the rest of his fellow Xtian evangelical ilk; there are 2012 World-Enders, predicting massive earthquakes and crustal displacement and 'coastal events', and ultimately few survivors.
There are White Power fascists, and Survivalists, and the people who manufacture and sell them freeze-dried food and plans for bunkers to shield against the EMP bursts from North Korean-launched warheads, detonating high above the USA.
What happened in Sandy Hook yesterday has happened before -- in Columbine, in Denver; In Virginia; in a mall in Seattle last week; at a Dairy Queen in the Northwest. There may not be massacres, but annually there are many multiple-victim, firearm homicides in America.
And they will keep happening, until something changes about how firearm ownership and possession is discussed, and regulated, in this country.
The debate is not about Operator Error. It's not about something that happened "over there" in another city or state. It's about twenty dead children.
Along those lines are two, other very pertinent observations -- one, a part of the discussion at TPM Prime:
Memekiller: ...for me, it's all about the NRA. I'm anti-NRA, not guns, and am offended by the strangle-hold they have over our politics. And I'm angry that Democrats have ceded the issue, only to have the NRA, if anything, put twice as much effort into unseating Democrats and Obama who, if anything, loosened rules on guns ...And the other, at The Great Curmudgeon :
... And the gun culture the NRA fosters... Would the prevalence of guns be as frightening without the culture of paranoia and conspiracies they perpetuate? It's not just about freedom to own a gun. The NRA culture is a cult of xenophobia and insanity. They don't seem to be aiming their message at responsible gun owners so much as the disgruntled and those prone to paranoia. They are less about developing an advocacy group than they are about assembling a well-armed militia of the mentally unstable.
BrokenOur discourse, that is. Fortunately, we have DDay trying to repair it.Just to pick at random, here are a couple headlines at the Hartford Courant site just from the past 24 hours: Woman Shot, Man Dead After Standoff In Rocky Hill. Armed Robbery At Hartford Bank, Two In Custody.It’s not that school shootings like this are abnormal. They are depressingly normal. The fact that there were no shootings in one day in New York City recently was seen as a major achievement, which shows you how desensitized we have become to gun violence as a normal occurrence of daily life.Just a reminder. The NRA is an industry lobby for the gun industry. The industry that makes consumer products largely designed to kill people. Not deer. Not rabbits.
People.
I'm for gun control and I agree with most of what is said here. But there are no NTSB investigations into most traffic violence. About 40,000 people are killed in traffic violence in the US and 3 times that many are injured, including many with severe brain and spinal cord injuries. On the average 500 children between the ages of infant and 5 years old are
ReplyDeletekilled in traffic violence every year. If anything else was killing children like that we would be sending out thoughts and prayers. I've had 3 friends killed by motorist and not one of those motorist spent a minute in jail for killing my friends. I believe I'm more likely to be killed by a distracted motorist talking on their cell phone than a shooter. The way I see it, is that if you want to kill somebody, don't use a gun, use a car and you will probably get away with it.
It isn't just the NRA (which is too easy an answer because it lets liberals off the hook), it's America's entire culture of violence. I have no patience for those who deplore the killing of American children but are indifferent to the wanton slaughter of children an other innocents in other nations. And yes, liberals, I am talking to you as well as the conservatives since none of you said a single word in condemnation of the over 6,000 civilians Obama killed via drone strikes, his attack on Libya or his surge in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteOurs is sick, depraved culture that feeds on death and destruction, and merely increasing gun control measures isn't going to change it.
look at how it started
Delete1)genocide of the aboriginal inhabitants
2)importing involuntary labor from africa
it's not surprising that our culture is the way it is - what's surprising is how humane and reasonable many of us are, a lot of the time
we shall overcome, someday